Conor Daly bashes parody account for rumors affecting IndyCar future: "Messes with people's actual lives"

Juncos Hollinger Racing's Conor Daly has slammed a parody account for spreading fake rumors affecting his IndyCar prospects.

A parody account on X by the name of The Daily Downfords has recently suggested that Daly's current team is finalizing a deal to sign Andretti Global's Indy NXT driver Dennis Hauger on loan for the 2026 season. This did not sit well with Conor Daly at all.

The Daily Downfords

@DailyDownfords

.@juncoshollinger is finalizing a deal to sign @hauger_dennis on loan from Andretti Global for the 2026 IndyCar season. The 22-year-old Norwegian driver is poised to win the Indy NXT championship in coming weeks.

In line with this, during the Speed Street Podcast (Ep 187), he has made it known that the Dennis Hauger story is fake.

"The rumor mills are flying around. There was one rumor that did include myself that I would like to let people know is not real. There's an account on the internet that I really don't know how people continue to fall for this stuff.I really don't. But the Daily Down Fords is not a real website. It's not a real place, it's a parody account." (29:30 onwards).

Additionally, the rumor was further spread by a journalist without verifying it, and suggesting that the future of current drivers Conor Daly and Sting Ray Robb is yet to be confirmed. Concerning all this, Daly said:

"And then it's, of course, you know, journalism that if someone sees that, they basically just copy and paste the tweet and put it out on their own account, which is not then identified as a parody account." (30:04 onwards).

In another section of the podcast, he brutally slammed the parody account as 'it messes with people's lives'.

"I am not a fan of the Downford anymore. I'm not a fan ot it, sorry. I mean I respect you guys for trying to be funny, but a lot of it messes with people's actual lives." (30:43 onwards).

Interestingly, in May 2025, it was announced that his main sponsor, ampm, will serve as a partner in IndyCar, extending into 2026.

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Conor Daly has produced a decent 2025 campaign for JHR

Conor Daly has been competing in America's highest class of open-wheel racing since 2013 (on an off-and-on basis). In 2024, he secured a P26 finish in the drivers' standings with only 119 points.

Fast forward to the ongoing 2025 campaign, which still has two races remaining, and he is P19 in the standings, having already amassed 220 points. For a team like JHR, this is a sizeable result.

Daly's best overall finish in an IndyCar campaign has been 17th place. Considering that he is only 20 points away from it with Kyffin Simpson in P17 with 240 points and with two races remaining, he could finish in the same position once again or further up in the standings.

His teammate, Sting Ray Robb, is currently way down in P25, having amassed only 160 points in the first 15 races of the 2025 season.